I realized when I kept setting this book aside to read almost anything else I was in trouble. This is a rare book which I chose not to finish after completing about 1/3 of it. I'll return to it if anyone urges me, but . . .

The trouble with Aldiss's world is not that it isn't rich: it's one of the most systemically, astronomically, and politically developed worlds I've encountered. But the science and plot-level intrigues, matched by characters so narratively-distanced as to keep them made of an unsympathetic cardboard, do not make for satisfying reading. There's scarce a thematic idea to be found, though the palette offered suggests ample opportunities.

This was a problem in the earlier work, Helliconia Spring, as well, but I excused it as 1) he was still warming up to his own creation, and 2) the several disparate narratives gave him less room. Neither of these situations is true in this second title. 

It's too bad, because I admire Aldiss's expertise and reputation in the SF world, but my reading time must be spent with works which satisfy some narrative demands rather than merely keep me scientifically curious.